According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
